Detroit Lions Rumors: Team to Face Former Coach Jim Schwartz on Thanksgiving Day?

By Connor Muldowney

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It was quite the offseason for the Detroit Lions as they fired head coach Jim Schwartz after five seasons, going 29-51 during that time and making the playoffs just once. Now, Detroit will have a chance to show him up on its annual Thanksgiving Day game at Ford Field in 2014. According to a leaked post on the Buffalo Bills‘ website, the Lions and Bills will be facing off on Thanksgiving Day.

The post isn’t official, seeing as schedule dates have yet to be released, but this is exactly what the post titled “13 Things to Know About 2014 Opponents” included about the Lions:

“Buffalo and Detroit will meet for the 10th time in the regular season in 2014. The Bills have played in eight previous Thanksgiving Day games (4-4) in team history with their last appearance on Turkey Day coming in 1994.”

While the schedules haven’t been released, this is a pretty safe bet that the Bills know beforehand that they will be playing Detroit on its annual Turkey Day game.

This might not seem like a big deal, but the fact that the Lions will face their former coach who they cut ties with after a couple disappointing seasons following a playoff appearance in 2011 means that the atmosphere on Thanksgiving Day will be electric. Although Schwartz isn’t the head coach, but the defensive coordinator, it shouldn’t take away from the rivalry at hand.

A former coach who was fired for lack of production with an organization has a chance to shut down an electric offense on its own field on a heavily-celebrated annual game.

It will be interesting to see how fans react to Schwartz once he takes the opposing sideline.

My guess is that there will be boos aplenty.

Connor Muldowney is a columnist for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at connor.muldowney@rantsports.com.